Round Top Park

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Round Top Park was an excursion park located in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, [1] near the end of the Round Top Branch and owned by the Gettysburg & Harrisburg Railroad. [2] It operated from 1884 to 1896. In addition to amusements, the park provided services during the memorial association era for steamtrain and trolley tourists visiting nearby military sites of the Battle of Gettysburg.

History

The "dummy" Baldwin steam engine [3] began to bring guests to the area in June 1884. Ephram H. Minnigh was the park's manager at the time. [4] On July 4, 1884, Colonel John H. McClellan held a free ox roast at the park to benefit the Carlisle Indian Industrial School. [3] In 1886, the Gettysburg Battlefield Memorial Association purchased the grove in and around Round Top. [5] In 1889, the Pennsylvania Reserves held a reunion in the park. [6]

The park featured several amenities, including a covered pavilion, [2] a dining pavilion, [7] a dance pavilion, [8] [9] and a cook house. [10] Amusements at Round Top Park included target shooting [11] and a merry-go-round. This merry-go-round was put up for sale in 1894. [12] In 1896, GBMA removed several of the park's buildings, marking the end of the park's usage as an excursion park. [10] On July 4, 1900, the land was used by the Tacony Rifles as a camp. [13]

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References

  1. ↑ "The New Railroad: Its Pictures, Round-Top Branch, &c" (Google News Archive). Gettysburg Compiler. April 29, 1884. Retrieved 2011-05-11. Lewis A. Bushman has contracted with Joseph J. Smith for the erection of a warehouse and dwelling at the terminus of the branch, on the Taneytown road. The railroad company has purchased a tract of 15 acres from Mr. Bushman between the Taneytown road and Little Round-Top for excursion purposes.
  2. 1 2 "Local Items" (Google News Archives). The Star and Sentinel. June 17, 1884. Retrieved 2011-07-04. The Round Top extension of the new railroad was completed last week, ready for excursion tours. The work of blocking up and ballasting is in progress. A large covered pavilion has been erected in the grove east of Round Top. Burgess Tipton, with an eye to business, has put up a photographic gallery on the grounds.
  3. 1 2 "Local Flashes, Ox Roast on the Fourth, & Excursions" (Google News Archive). Gettysburg Compiler. June 24, 1884. p. 3. Retrieved 2011-02-25. D. S. Fuhrman…on the Gilbert property…will sell tickets covering fifteen baths for one dollar.
  4. ↑ "Round-Top Park Now Open" (Google News archive). Gettysburg Compiler. June 29, 1886. Retrieved 2011-10-11. Round-trip trains are run from Gettysburg morning and evening.
  5. ↑ "Gettysburg Times - Google News Archive Search". news.google.com. Retrieved 2024-05-10.
  6. ↑ "The Star and Sentinel - Google News Archive Search". news.google.com. Retrieved 2024-05-10.
  7. ↑ "Gettysburg Compiler - Google News Archive Search". news.google.com. Retrieved 2024-05-10.
  8. ↑ "The Electric Line on the Battlefield" (Google News Archive). The Star and Sentinel. June 20, 1893. Retrieved 2011-02-25. …to the dance house… The trolley people propose to build a station just where Hancock was wounded.
  9. ↑ "Little Round Top Park" (Google News Archive). Sunday Herald. Baltimore, Maryland. August 12, 1884. Retrieved 2011-02-23. The Park is fitted up with Dancing Pavilion, Dining Room, &c., &c. Dinner 50 cents. Lunch 25 cents. … Returning, leave Little Round Top Park at 4.45 P.M., arriving in Baltimore 7.55 P. M.
  10. 1 2 "Town and Country" (Google News Archive). New Oxford Item. November 13, 1896. Retrieved 2011-07-04. The dancing pavilion, cook house and all other buildings have been removed from Round Top park by the Battlefield commission.
  11. ↑ "The Star and Sentinel - Google News Archive Search". news.google.com. Retrieved 2024-05-10.
  12. ↑ "Gettysburg Compiler - Google News Archive Search". news.google.com. Retrieved 2024-05-10.
  13. ↑ "Camping at Little Round Top". July 4, 1900. Retrieved 2011-07-05. The Tacony Rifles … arrived last Saturday evening and went into camp on the eastern side of Little Round Top, in what was formerly Round Top Park. … The boys have named their camp "Camp Costello." (1900 Gettysburg Compiler article, 2000 "Out of the Past")
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